Archives

Now, More Than Ever, Our Society Needs What Talk Therapy Has to Offer

Sherry Turkle • 1 Comment

By Sherry Turkle - Digital connection is a way to keep my job simple and my life tidier. But we have to support each other in remembering that the kind of conversations that may seem old-fashioned are actually most necessary and essential. Right now, digital culture closes down the questions that talk therapy knows how to open up.

The Power of Embracing Our Vulnerability

By Mary Sykes Wylie - A pervasive sense of shame makes many of us feel unworthy of human connection. Why the shame? Because in this perfectionistic culture, most of us believe we’re “not good enough: not thin enough, rich enough, beautiful enough, smart enough, promoted enough” to be worthy of love. But research by professor and acclaimed TED speaker Brené Brown shows that some people have escaped the shame trap. How? They let themselves be vulnerable.

How an Online Community Broke the Networking Mold

By Chris Lyford - In the two years since its founding, Black Therapists Rock, an online community of black therapists, has gained more than 22,000 members. It's a resource, they say, where they can network, get advice about challenging cases, and meet potential mentors. But it’s also a place where many black therapists finally discover—often for the first time in a decades-long career—a sense of camaraderie with other professionals like them.

One Expert Pushes Back

Candyce Ossefort-Russell • 5 Comments

By Candyce Ossefort-Russell - I was appalled when I encountered the heavily publicized resilience book by Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, Option B: Facing Adversity, Building Resilience, and Finding Joy. Their book’s consistent message seems to be that grievers need to stop feeling dangerous “negative” emotions and bounce back to “normal” as quickly as possible, so that they don’t become “trapped” or “broken” by their pain. My experience as a widow and a grief counselor has taught me exactly the opposite.

The Science Behind Healthy Relationships

Stephen Porges • 1 Comment

Stress responses aren't only vested within the sympathetic nervous system’s capacity to support fight-or-flight behaviors. There’s another defense system that’s mediated through a vagal circuit, says Stephen Porges, creator of the Polyvagal Theory. In the following video from his 2016 Networker Symposium keynote address, he explains how the vagus nerve is affected by trauma, and what this means for our ability to build meaningful relationships.

Steering the Way We Form Relationships in the Digital Age

The Internet has become the world's largest, and arguably most important, social thoroughfare. It intersects with millions---no, billions---of streets, alleyways, and self-contained villages where you can find, meet, and work with just about anyone on the planet. The problem is, many of us feel slightly out of synch, even as we commit increasing stretches of our time to the Internet.